Lucknow: Earlier porters, now it is the turn of the ex-servicemen who refuse the job of gangmen. The “A journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment” has once again made the Railway authorities to search for solution on filling vacancies of gangmen, who perform a very vital task of track maintenance under "not an easy times".
North-Central Railway (NCR) officials say while efforts were being made to accommodate those ex-servicemen not wanting to take up the task of the gangmen at other equivalent posts, the fact remained that not all of them can be taken. An official said the reluctance on the part of the ex-servicemen to take up the task of gangmen was also a “perception” issue, as they felt the job was low in status.
In 2008, the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had launched a scheme of porters being brought to use as gangmen. But the porters’ enthusiasm drawn off soon after as they actually had tough working conditions with less pay. Later, the Railways had to give back the licences to a most of porters.
About five months back, nearly 1,400 ex-servicemen were registered as employees by the NCR in the entire zone, including Allahabad, Jhansi and Agra divisions.
“They were recruited for group ‘D’ jobs and, because the maximum vacancies and requirement were for gangmen, nearly 60 per cent were offered these posts. But, now they have given applications that they do not want to take up the job,” said a senior Railway official.
Divisional Personnel Officer (DPO), Allahabad Division, Sanjeev Kumar, said of the 1,400 ex-servicemen recruited, 700 were allocated jobs in the Allahabad division.
“Of these 700, at least 400 ex-servicemen were made gangmen. Nearly 250 of them joined the duty. But now, almost all of them are demanding they be accommodated in other departments,” said Kumar.
Other than the fact, the gangmen have to live away from their families and live most of the time in tents, their task becomes with a great degree of stress.
“Even big stretches where there used to be 40 gangmen earlier now barely have a dozen gangmen. Also, the density of the trains on the tracks has increased tremendously making the job even more stressful,” said General Secretary, NCR Men’s Union, R D Yadav.
A group of nearly 150 ex-servicemen had recently requested him seeking change to other departments.
Yadav said many ex-servicemen are above the 40-45 age group and had retired from supervisory posts. “Gangman’s task is a tough field job and, obviously, people have who have reached a certain age would not be able to perform it properly,” said Yadav.
The DPO said many of the ex-servicemen who retired from the rank of Hawildars or Subedars and higher, so this job of Gangman is rearded to be below their dignity. Source: http://www.expressindia.com/
North-Central Railway (NCR) officials say while efforts were being made to accommodate those ex-servicemen not wanting to take up the task of the gangmen at other equivalent posts, the fact remained that not all of them can be taken. An official said the reluctance on the part of the ex-servicemen to take up the task of gangmen was also a “perception” issue, as they felt the job was low in status.
In 2008, the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had launched a scheme of porters being brought to use as gangmen. But the porters’ enthusiasm drawn off soon after as they actually had tough working conditions with less pay. Later, the Railways had to give back the licences to a most of porters.
About five months back, nearly 1,400 ex-servicemen were registered as employees by the NCR in the entire zone, including Allahabad, Jhansi and Agra divisions.
“They were recruited for group ‘D’ jobs and, because the maximum vacancies and requirement were for gangmen, nearly 60 per cent were offered these posts. But, now they have given applications that they do not want to take up the job,” said a senior Railway official.
Divisional Personnel Officer (DPO), Allahabad Division, Sanjeev Kumar, said of the 1,400 ex-servicemen recruited, 700 were allocated jobs in the Allahabad division.
“Of these 700, at least 400 ex-servicemen were made gangmen. Nearly 250 of them joined the duty. But now, almost all of them are demanding they be accommodated in other departments,” said Kumar.
Other than the fact, the gangmen have to live away from their families and live most of the time in tents, their task becomes with a great degree of stress.
“Even big stretches where there used to be 40 gangmen earlier now barely have a dozen gangmen. Also, the density of the trains on the tracks has increased tremendously making the job even more stressful,” said General Secretary, NCR Men’s Union, R D Yadav.
A group of nearly 150 ex-servicemen had recently requested him seeking change to other departments.
Yadav said many ex-servicemen are above the 40-45 age group and had retired from supervisory posts. “Gangman’s task is a tough field job and, obviously, people have who have reached a certain age would not be able to perform it properly,” said Yadav.
The DPO said many of the ex-servicemen who retired from the rank of Hawildars or Subedars and higher, so this job of Gangman is rearded to be below their dignity. Source: http://www.expressindia.com/
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